Uncomfortable seat solution

[missathena]

This is my first post. My fiancee and I bought our 2012 Yaris in May. For the money it is a great little car! I do find the seat a bit awkward, though. I feel as if I am too far away from the steering wheel, and my audio controls, and my cupholders.... I am 5'5". My fiancee doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, but he is taller and has longer arms. He also generally likes to sit closer to the gas pedals than I do.

Q - are there any steering wheel mods or seat mods that can help me with better positioning? I am very much a beginner. The only "mod" I've ever been able to do successfully on my own is install an Alpine deck in my old Avalon (whose seats adjusted 1000 ways....bit I digress....) Or if anyone knows someone reputable in the tri-state area to help with mods that would be good too.

Thank you! I will take some good pics and post them too, under the photos thread.

[missathena]

And how do I remove/replace the headrest? It pushes my head forward :-(

[daf62757]

And how do I remove/replace the headrest? It pushes my head forward :-(

Not sure about the first question, but the second one is to pull the head rest up until it locks. Then look for the small button on the one of the base of the seat where the metal rods go into the seat and press it in and pull the head rest up. It should completely come out of the seat.

[tooter]

And how do I remove/replace the headrest? It pushes my head forward :-(

Push in the button at the side of the base, pull it all the way out, turn it around, and put it in backwards. :thumbsup:

Check under the steering wheel for a lever to release that will adjust the wheel up or down. My wife is 5 feet tall and is perfectly comfortable driving with the wheel all the way down in the lowest position, and the seat most of the way forward. :smile:

[bobolinko]

[QUOTE=missathena;656349]This is my first post. My fiancee and I bought our 2012 Yaris in May. For the money it is a great little car! I do find the seat a bit awkward, though. I feel as if I am too far away from the steering wheel, and my audio controls, and my cupholders.... I am 5'5". My fiancee doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, but he is taller and has longer arms. He also generally likes to sit closer to the gas pedals than I do.

Q - are there any steering wheel mods or seat mods that can help me with better positioning? QUOTE]

I too felt uncomfortable with the seat positioning and adjustment. I made it more comfortable for me by installing Steel washers between the seat rails (where it mounts to the floor) and bought longer (#8 bolts) and installed the washers. I placed them on the BACK mounts and not on the front, and the seating for long rides is infinitely more comfortable for me. You'll need an 8 point socket and a long handle breaker bar to remove and tighten those bolts. the socket size is 8mm. You might want to try using wood or some spacers other than the washers to see if it makes a difference for you before buying the bolts and washers. :>)
Aloha!

[CPALK719]

did you try adjusting the seat???? you could move it more forward.

As for headrests they just slide right out, i removed all my backseat ones the first week of me owning the car because they blocked view of the rear window.

[missathena]

yes, I adjusted the heck out of the seat! The trouble is that when I'm a comfortable distance away from the pedals, I'm just a bit too far from the wheel, and need to sit up more. It's not a make-or-break thing for me by any means, I think it's just getting used to a slightly different driving position.

oof, I didn't realize the headrest could come out and I can put it on backwards...this will solve my problem.

I am good with tools, so I'm sure I could figure out how to boost the seat where I need to. I'm going to look into that. thanks people!

[Micropurchase]

You can pull the headrests out and bend the posts in a bench vice to the desired angle. Pad/wrap the posts before clamping in the vice so that you don't scratch them. I did this modifcation with my seat headrests. I felt like they were poking me in the back of the head before. They are much better now.

I'm still working on a potential solution to the steering wheel being too far away that will extend the steering wheel up to 6 inches outward. It will be a combination of commercially-available, aftermarket steering parts (hub & spacers) plus some custom work to the stock steering wheel (basically making it MOMO compatible) because I don't want to lose the airbag. Some wire splicing (extension) will also be involved. I will post a description of that once I complete it in another month or two. It will be a fix, but it will ultimately not be cheap or easy.

[nookandcrannycar]

did you try adjusting the seat???? you could move it more forward.

As for headrests they just slide right out, i removed all my backseat ones the first week of me owning the car because they blocked view of the rear window.

I removed my backseat ones within the first week as well (mine are taller, but I would have done the same thing in the '12). I also removed my front seat ones for that reason and that I like to be able to easily pull things from the backseat while sitting in the driver's seat (and for the 'pushing against my head' reason the OP writes about). I only put a headrest back in the car when I drive my little cousin somewhere (her mom doesn't want her riding in a seat sans headrest)

[Scubaru Steve]

Does the LE have the height adjust on it? if not find some SE seats?

[bewley]

Micropurchase, Thanks for that idea of bending the headrest! I'm really feeling quite a bit of tension in my neck from the forward tilt. I'm surprised Toyota didn't change the tilt for the new model. I already tried turning it around and that didn't really solve the problem for me. Cheers!

[Jamus]

The odd distance of the steering wheel was the first thing I noticed when I test drove my 07 sedan. Unfortunately Toyota hasn't fixed it on the 2012 models. I'm 5'6" so I guess it's just us midgets who are effected. To drive comfortably, I have to lean forward away from the seat to adjust the radio. It's my opinion that everything should be within reach of the driver when driving. If someone made an aftermarket steering wheel 2-3 inches closer and retaining the airbag, they'd sell more than you think.